I'm guilty of the same thing, get's hard to peel them off after a training session eh!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartigus

Thanks! Maybe I should grip the bar wider? Even that width feels a bit wide, but I could learn to go wider.

Yeah I suppose you could experiment with it. My press width has generally gotten wider over the years as I've gotten wider (lats, shoulders etc). I've seen the same thing in people that I train. Because a good Bench Press requires you to use your lats to buttress your arms as they come down, you can only realistically move out wider when you get wider and bigger. Or else you'll find you lose the support from the lats at the bottom, in which case you lose power and you'll probably feel your shoulders starting to hurt.

So I'd caution against going wider when you're not ready for it. When you start filling out some more you'll know when the grip starts feeling too narrow, at that point move it out.

As an aside this is a major reason why the lats are so important in the Bench Press. If you're looking at a guy with thick lats & strong shoulders odds are you're looking at a potentially good Bencher.